I am certainly not, in this forum, going to launch a proposition of a new philosophy of music education (I need more experience and time for that!) – though it is hard to escape our history in this area – but I will offer a ‘map’. Over the years, there has been some very robust…
Category: Pedagogy
Instructions for ‘detangling’: Structuring a Musicology viewpoint
In an earlier post – Disentangling the entangled: Thinking about and through Musicology – I spoke of an approach to music analysis as it is required of in Queensland’s Music: Senior Syllabus (QCAA, 2013)[i]. Since then, I have also received Musicology work from both my Year 11 and Year 12 Music classes. The Year 11…
Disentangling the entangled: Thinking about and through Musicology
After much deconstruction and analysis of music, my Year 11 Music students are about to embark on their first formal Musicology task. In Queensland, Australia, Musicology is a dimension of the current senior syllabus.[i] It involves “the study of music in social, historical and cultural contexts… it entails researching, analysing and evaluating repertoire… in a…
Digital music technologies: A double-edged sword?
Digital technologies have infiltrated many of the ways we produce and consume music. They have provided an increased level of access to music making, creation, production and sharing – anyone with access to a computer (or a tablet or phone!) can, for example, explore music and musical processes without the need for a ‘teacher’. Many…
“Methodology? I just try to teach music musically.”
Someone recently asked me what methodology I used to teach music. I’m pretty sure they awaited a definitive response to support and ‘validate’ their own methodological worldview… “The best bits of each”, I replied. There are a variety of methodologies out there, and I’ve met some hardcore advocates who maintain that their way is the…
Learning an instrument is hard… but that’s why it’s so good!
Learning an instrument is hard work. When we learn an instrument, we can also learn a lot about our character. My school has adopted the VIA Character Strengths[1] from the positive education movement as a frame for educative interactions on academic, co-curricular, social and pastoral levels. Learning an instrument speaks to and allows us to…
Instrument learning with more than just the instrument…?
In my experience, the best instrumental teachers I’ve worked with have taught much more than the instrument – they taught music; the instrument was the vehicle. The development of technique was central to what they did, but it was approached in musical ways. Conveying a musical idea was paramount and their approaches were robust. Pieces…
Some Brief Thoughts on Characterising Effective Pedagogies in Music Education
For some time now I have been wrestling with some considerations that I feel need to underpin our educative interactions as music teachers. My thoughts have been continually prompted by classroom action and reflection, and I will now think these considerations ‘out loud’ and position them as pedagogical (educative) conditions that I feel need to…
Encouraging ‘deeper listening’ and own thinking about and of music
In Year 11 and 12 Music in Queensland, Australia, students work from the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) Music: Senior Syllabus[i]. From the learning experiences devised from this document, students are assessed across three dimensions of musical study – Composition, Musicology, and Performance. In my experience, the dimensions of Performance and Composition often draw…
Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue…
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue… I am sure we have all encountered this saying before… perhaps even enacted it on that ‘special day’? I heard someone quote this last week and my mind immediately associated it with the way I approach teaching music. Later that day I looked up the saying to discover that it…
Dr Cade Bonar 